Posts Tagged ‘mental Health’

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Putting values into practice on pharmacare will come at a cost

Friday, June 14th, 2019

The catch is that there would be a massive shift of drug costs from private plans to public plans, an “incremental public cost” of $15.3-billion… Practically, it also means the feds would have to raise taxes by at least $15-billion a year. That, not poor values, is the single biggest impediment to national pharmacare. The other related hurdle is that a national plan would require an unprecedented level of federal-provincial-territorial co-operation.

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Pharmacare today, like medicare 50 years ago, makes sense

Friday, June 14th, 2019

In terms of cost overall, most experts agree that a universal, single-pay system would save money for Canadians… But a universal public program would also shift costs from individuals and employers to governments… Canadians would pay more in taxes for universal drug coverage. But this tax increase would be more than compensated for by the out-of-pocket, administrative and cost savings associated with the move to public pharmacare.

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New report provides the Trudeau Liberals with a blueprint for pharmacare

Friday, June 14th, 2019

There’s true pharmacare, as laid out by the advisory council chaired by Ontario’s former health minister, Eric Hoskins. Then there’s a paler version that seeks only to fill in the gaps by providing coverage for those who currently have none… Canadians already pay more for drugs than they do for doctors’ services and… drug costs are rising at an unsustainable 6.5 per cent per year. That has a big impact on both workplace plans and government drug benefits for seniors and the poor.

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Universal Pharmacare Within Reach: C.D. Howe Institute

Friday, June 7th, 2019

In “Filling the Gaps: A Prescription for Universal Pharmacare,” Policy Analyst Rosalie Wyonch finds there are ways to close the gaps in prescription drug coverage and protect households from excessive costs when in acute need through the expansion of public insurance… The report investigates current prescription drug insurance in Canadian provinces, evaluates options for achieving universal coverage and estimates their cost.

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Ontario health minister’s ‘modernization’ plan: cut now, figure out the details later

Friday, May 24th, 2019

They’ll scold the city for being a free-spending bastion of lefties. They’ll complain about the deficit their predecessors ran up. But they will not commit to continuing to fully fund the programs they claim to want to continue and improve… At some point taxes will have to be raised, or programs will have to be cut. Despite what Elliott says, it appears those are the choices. Not good ones. But soon necessary.

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How Ontario’s cuts to public health will hurt our patients

Sunday, May 19th, 2019

We are a group of resident physicians – doctors training to be family physicians and specialists – in Ontario… we have been taught the importance of disease prevention as one of the most important tools to keep people well and out of hospital… If your government truly is committed to ending “hallway medicine” and providing the possibility of healthier lives, we urge you to reconsider the proposed significant budget cuts to Public Health.

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The Fallacy of Federal Advantage in Delivering Pharmacare

Friday, May 17th, 2019

… the 2019 federal budget proposed the creation of a new Canadian Drug Agency to conduct health technology assessments, negotiate prices and listing terms… That is, the new agency could substantially lower the national drug budget even if the federal and provincial/territorial governments are not able to agree on a single-payer government plan… Prescription drugs are an increasingly large component of total healthcare costs, and should be integrated with other areas of health spending and policies to control it.

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Tories slash $17M from services for victims of violence

Wednesday, May 15th, 2019

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government has cut the budget for financial supports to help victims of violence by more than $17 million… At $163.4 billion, Finance Minister Vic Fedeli’s budget is the largest in Ontario history. But MacLeod’s department took the biggest hit, down $892 million from last year’s estimate of $17.5 billion. That was due mostly due to changes Ontario’s social assistance programs, Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program.

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Ontario’s top court rules religious doctors must offer patients an ‘effective referral’ for assisted dying, abortion

Wednesday, May 15th, 2019

The Court of Appeal for Ontario is now the highest court in the country to have ruled on the thorny question of how the conscience rights of doctors should be balanced against the rights of patients to access publicly funded health services – a question that became more pressing after the legalization of assisted dying three years ago.

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Don’t Make Pharmacare Completely Free

Friday, May 10th, 2019

Adjusting per-prescription charges is a logical way for provinces to respond to evidence of over-use and to fiscal pressures that might otherwise cause them to limit coverage in other ways, and in particular through rationing… Optimally, deductibles should be designed to put an income-dependent ceiling on out-of-pocket expenses depending on the individual’s state of health. These payments are not a bug in social insurance programs; they are a key feature that should be part of any universal pharmacare program.

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